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Dancing has done to Laila Ali what boxing couldn’t: Bring the undefeated world champion to her knees. Ali, 29, who has wowed the judges with her elegance and grace, on ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars,” whose finale airs Tuesday night, is planning to have knee surgery after the show wraps. “I think I’ve worn out all the cartilage,” she says.

Nicknamed “Spare Parts” by her boxing trainers because of all her minor injuries, Ali has been wrapping special black elastic bands below her kneecaps every day in dance practice to take some of the pressure off.

“But,” she says, “I’m not supposed to be putting any pressure on my knees and that’s what I’ve been doing every day with this dancing.”

Dancing, like any other strenuous workout, is thought to be good physical therapy for most people. Not for Ali. The rises and falls. The spins, the turns. Getting down and getting funky is not easy on the joints – especially when you’ve been rehearsing four to six hours a day, five days a week.

“I have two bad shoulders, two bad knees, a bad back and my wrists are a little weak,” she says. “So it’s not at all therapeutic for me. But I don’t complain. You know what I do. I take body shots. I’m used to working through the pain.”

So Ali is relieved that the finish line is in sight. Because after the show wraps, Ali is planning two important dates on her calendar: First, to have the knee surgery. “Probably both knees,” she says, although it’s unclear how extensive that surgery will be. And she’s hoping that those joints won’t let her down for the second important date, July 22, when she walks down the aisle. Ali is engaged for former NFL wide receiver Curtis Conway, 36.